As spring registration began last fall, students majoring in Communication Studies were concerned about being able to complete their major due to not being able to get into critical classes. The department quickly took action to ensure students they would be able to get into the necessary classes in order to graduate.
An anonymous Sophomore Communication Studies Major was one such concerned student. She was having difficulty getting into the classes she needed with her late registration date.
“There was a lack of classes when registration came around, and so I wasn’t able to get into the classes I wanted. The department has too few professors for how many majors there are registered.”
The student emphasizesd that she was not the only one with this problem. There had been many complaints from students in the major.
However, Associate Provost and Dean of Arts and Humanities Paula O’Loughlin explained that the number of students graduating with a Communication Studies major has been lower in recent years.
“In 2014, only 32 graduates left the College with Communication Studies degrees which is the lowest number of Communication Studies Majors graduating since 1995,” Dean O’Loughlin said.
This lower number can be attributed to the decrease in overall enrollment in the college which then leads to a smaller revenue for hiring faculty. Dean O’Loughlin emphasizes that the college’s main job is still to see the success of students even through stressful times.
“As the college deals with the fact that our overall enrollment is lower than what we would like, and thus our revenue base for hiring more faculty and offering more classes is smaller, it would probably also be helpful to remember that the faculty and everyone else at Gustavus is doing their best. Student success remains what we all care about,” Dean O’Loughlin said.
Although there had been issues, Professor and Chair in Communication Studies Leila Brammer was happy to see the quick turn around the department made once they realized students weren’t able to get in classes they needed.
“As soon as we saw that we needed more spots for juniors and level three courses, we repurposed a Public Discourse to be a level three course which took an amazing amount of flexibility,” Brammer said.
Brammer also described steps the Communication Studies Department is making for next year in order to help the major overall.
“For next year, we were able to get a replacement for Professor Patricia English who is going to be on leave next fall, so we were able to replace her three courses and get two extra courses,” Brammer said.
She went on to say, “We are looking at three to four more departmental courses across the two semesters, really thinking about putting those at the level two and three experience so we can make sure we are managing our enrollment up there.”
The Communication Studies Department is encouraging a continuation of dialogue between students and the department in order to work together and understand the needs for both the students and the department.
“I think we have had some really great conversations with all the majors both individually and also as a group. I think that we will continue that piece of working together,” Brammer said.
Although students were having a difficult time registering for some Communication Studies classes for the spring semester, the department acted quickly and are making changes to prevent the problem for the future.
-Christine Peterson